White Knight
by bookworm3261
Summary: Belle is running out of time, Rumple's heart is turning dark and if she doesn't get to him quickly, the dark one will come and she will lose him forever.


Belle ran with the speed of a frantic wildebeest, her mantra to herself "Please be okay, please be okay." She knew something was wrong, the atmosphere was dark, oppressive and the air was teeming with the electrical current she immediately identified as magic. She ran to the doors of Gold's pawn shop, tried the door and to her dismay discovered it was locked. She dug around her pocket, found her key and tried the lock. But it would still not budge. She peeked through the nearest window and discovered a sight that stopped her heart cold. Rumple was slumped forward, his back against the desk, his skin ashen gray, his eyes glowed with obsidian light, while a red aura glowed around him. Tears flowed down her cheeks because she knew what the sight before her meant. The Dark one was winning, her Rumple could not hold the beast back any longer and once the darkness took over his heart she knew she would lose him forever. "No, I will not lose him again!" Determination overflowing her she threw her body against the door, screaming like an inhuman beast. The door would not yield, so she searched the ground around her frantically and discovered a sturdy piece of concrete She untied the scarf around her neck, and wrapped it around her hand in a tight and efficient knot, grabbed the concrete and busted out the windows of the door. She reached in and turned the knob, and threw the door open.  
The minute she attempted to step forward through the threshold, her body begin to feel as it were being skinned alive. Her nerve endings were screaming in a harmonic chorus expressing the pain that was buffeting her body. A startling realization hit her, he had enchanted the shop against her. She deserved it for all of the pain that she had put him through in her foolish attempts at playing the hero. But she would offer him all of the apologies that he needed to hear in the near future, but first she had to rescue her husband from the demon that has plagued him for a thousand years. She took one step forward than another, the movement jarring because the magic burning through her system almost made her want to curl into a ball in the fetal position and let the pain overtake her. He was only a few feet away she had to get to him, with tears obscuring her vision she ignored the pain and charged forward until she collapsed on her knees in front of him.  
"Rumple, please wake up. Please." her voice was choked with emotion, she lifted her arm up which felt like a lead weight and placed it against his cheek. "I came back, I'm here now." With a soft groan, his voice nothing more than a whisper. "You should run while you still have a chance, take Will and go. She shook her head and resolutely said. "I will not leave you behind, their has to be something we have to do." His voice held regret and acceptance. "It's too late for me dearie, centuries of evil deeds has finally caught up to me. The dark one will collect his due, so it would probably be best for you and Will to run for the hills." The red aura around him seemed to grow more pronounced, Belle could hear an inhuman chuckle ringing in the shop, "Do you think you can still save him?" a chorus of demons howled at her, it came from Rumple. The eyes glowed with a thunderous light, his warm brown eyes replaced with the fires of hell. "We will have him, he gave himself willingly to us all those years ago. In an attempt to save his precious son, we granted his request gave him access to unlimited power. Now we demand payment." Rumple's face was twisted in an inhuman sneer, Belle knew that time was running out she had to do something quickly. "I never loved Will!" Rumple cocked his head to the side quizzically. "Than what was he?" Belle's smile was full of regret and sorrow." A friend, a very close friend that spent many lonely nights listening to a woman's regrets about the fact she failed her husband. I didn't give you the support that you need and I am so sorry, I was too wrapped up in playing the hero. You always read about heroes doing the right thing, in times of crisis they always know the right call to make. But I've been going about it the wrong way, Heroes don't wave around swords while riding in a white horse. They stand for what is right, they stand by the ones they care about. I have not been a hero, I have been a misguided fool. You have always saved my life, now it is my turn to save yours." She placed both hands against his face and dove in for the kiss, she knew that she had not been the perfect wife. Instead of standing by his side she had abandoned him to help others. She had no idea how much he had suffered, she had ignored all of the signs that were there and now she would have to pay a terrible price. She could only hope for one thing, that this kiss would show him how sorry she was and that it would save him. The world was engulfed in white, the Dark One's hellish screams rang through the shop as true love's kiss worked its' magic. When she next woke up, she was sprawled out on the pawn shops floor, her head was pounding, she sat up gingerly and saw a sight that filled her heart with joy. Rumple was human, he looked at her with a gentle smile and eyes full of such love it almost made her want to weep. She sat up on her knees and crawled toward him, "Belle, I." She interrupted him with a finger to his lips. "Shh, don't talk you need a lot of rest. You have been through such an ordeal. She leans forward and gives him a tender kiss, "And you have no idea how happy I am to see you."


End file.
